1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to structural modules or panels and, more particularly, to structural modules or panels formed of interconnected cells of predetermined shapes.
2. Description of the Art
Various cellular or honeycomb structures have been developed for use in aircraft, housing, shipping containers, trailers and vehicles. Such structures provide a strong, lightweight module or panel which can be formed in many different configurations and shapes for such various applications. These cellular elements have been constructed in various geometric shapes and in planar or stacked arrangements depending upon impact and shear strength requirements as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,906,508 issued in the names of the present Applicants.
As described in that patent, the geometric cell designs lend themselves to contour shapes to conform to the requirements of the final product, such as vehicle doors, decks, hoods and other vehicle body parts. Typically, a solid, thin, outer skin panel is joined to one or both sides of the cellular structure. Further, one or both outer skin panels and one or both sides of the inner cellular structure may be contoured depending upon the particular application.
It has been found that certain cellular arrangements provide high impact strength in one direction or axis along the structure, but have far less strength in an opposite direction or along an opposite axis. Thus, unless the cellular structure is increased in thickness along the weaker direction or axis, such cellular structures are limited to only certain low impact force applications or applications involving unidirectional forces.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a structural module which overcomes the deficiencies noted in previously devised structural modules or panels. It would also be desirable to provide a structural module which can be easily and uniformly constructed with high impact strength along all axes. It would also be desirable to provide a structural module which can be constructed with a variety of different geometric, cellular configurations for use in various applications. It would also be desirable to provide a structural module whose configuration can be easily modified to provide additional strength and impact force resistance along any axis.